Content area
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine comparatively the conflict which exists between the traditional beliefs, values and norms of Native American and Australian Aboriginal students, and their experiences of mainstream universities. A special focus was on those processes and activities by which both native students and their universities sought to manage this conflict in order to enhance these students' success.
The study was based on interviews conducted with students, faculty and staff at two mainstream universities: The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) in America and the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) in Australia; on observations carried out at those universities; and on the analysis of documents and other relevant data. The qualitative research methods used included case study analysis, constant comparative analysis and grounded theory.
The study revealed that students at both universities experienced cultural conflict. This conflict was categorized as being concerned with the group; family; elders; teaching, learning and knowledge; discovery of identity; traditional culture and the campus; racism; and support structures.
Students were shown to adopt different ways of dealing with cultural conflict so as to reduce its impact on their academic progress. Students who developed an effective bi-culturalism, which made them equally at home in their traditional culture or the culture of the mainstream university, were perhaps the most successful in managing cultural conflict.
The role and work of the two universities' support programs designed to assist native students to deal with cultural conflict were examined. The evidence suggested that a program which facilitated cultural maintenance, and which provided a venue for students to express their traditional values and attitudes, was more successful than one which provided academic support or counseling only. The former program was able to strengthen the development of bicultural skills in students and thus enhance their chance of academic success in a mainstream institution.
